Photosynthesis
by Kobalos
Summary: 'He was like the sun, and I soaked up his rays... but that sun was never meant to shine for me.' This story follows Ash Underwood, and to a lesser extent his sister Willow, through key moments of their childhood. This is my second entry to Takara Phoenix's OC competition.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, or Ash and Willow, though I do like to think I put my own spin on the characters!

Prologue: Through a Mother's Eyes

/March, 2020/

Waaaaah!

 **Author** Juniper buried her face in her hands as another scream went tearing through the cottage. Willow was... teething. Sleep was no longer an option, and on this particular day she had been juggling two babies with her worry for Grover, her husband. As much as she admired his dedication to nature, whenever he and the other Lords of the Wild had to intervene in a threat to nature she worried herself sick.

Groaning, she walked over to the crib, a collection of tree roots growing out of the floor. One of the upsides to being a Dryad means that wood could be really easy to come by, be it dead branches donated by friends or her own tree roots growing into little cradles or benches to help her out.

"Hey darling... It's ok now, Mama's here" She whispered into Willow's ear as she gently rocked her whimpering daughter. As willow made soft gurgling noises in response, quieting down a bit, Juniper's eyes came to rest on Ash, who had been woken up by Willow's cries, and looked very unhappy himself. Feeling as though she herself was about to collapse from exhaustion at any moment, she picked up Ash in her other arm and, whispering gently to them, carried them to her bed.

This bed was filled with so many memories. When building the house, Grover had taken a leaf (or rather a trunk) out of Odysseus's book and constructed it around her tree, using its trunk as part of the bed frame. The tree itself had grown into the wooden bed, and it was now covered with roots and vines, and at this time of year it was blooming with flowers of every colour!

As soon as she lay down, she could feel a wave of peace wash over her, as her tree fed her energy to revitalise her. Ash and Willow began to quiet down, staring at the flowers all around them. After some gurgling and incoherent baby talk, they managed to quiet down and began to nod off. Juniper let out a relieved sigh and rolled over, slowly drifting off to sleep...

/break/

Someone's hand clamped over her mouth, and Juniper bolted upright. She whipped her head around, only to come face to face with Grover, giggling quietly into his hand. Huffing, she blew some hair out of her face. "Very funny, darling. So glad you matured after all these years..." She leaned up and kissed him, and he leaned in to hug her.

"Sorry Juni, couldn't resist! How did things go while I was away?" Grover asked, leaning back on the bed, still grinning. She quickly waved the question off, saying "everything was fine, I was just a bit tired. But Grover, what happened to keep you so long? I thought that it was just some winter spirits being a bit stubborn, when I got the message it would take longer than you thought I was worried!"

The smile slowly faded off his face. "It's been getting worse. The winter spirits are always unhappy about making way for spring, but this year... They actually tried to attack the spring spirits rather than go in peace. It's almost like they were riled up by someone." Juniper frowned, and reached out to put her hand on top of his. "You know that if you asked, I'd come help. Just say the word and-" "Juni." Grover interrupted softly. "You know we can't leave the little ones alone"

"I know" she sighed. "I'd never abandon them, I'm just... I feel so helpless, Grover. I worry so much while you're out there..." He reached over and embraced her. "You are anything but helpless, Juni. It's ok, I'm back now, and hopefully will be for a long, long time."

Author's Note: I meant this first chapter to be the only one, but then when I was bored I began writing a chapter two and worked out a storyline for the whole thing! This chapter is unrelated to my big plan, so it is kind of out of place. However, I didn't want to leave it out since it started it all. Expect this story to be between 8-10 chapters long.


	2. Chapter 1: Sprouting

Chapter One: Sprouting

/June, 2023/

Ash Underwood was bouncing on the ball so of his feet at four in the morning, waiting for his dad to wake up and finally finally FINALLY take him to camp. Even though he wasn't a demigod, Chiron had begun to allow young nature spirits to come to the camp, and as a dryad legacy, he would be staying with the Demeter cabin. And yes, his house was only a ten minute walk from camp but that wasn't the POINT, he would actually get to stay in a cabin and go to the gardens and make friends and- YES! His Dad was finally waking up!

"Hey little sprout" his Dad said, rubbing his eyes. He reached down to ruffle Ash's hair, and realised that Ash was fully dressed with two suitcases sitting next to him. "Ash? Why are there two bags bigger than you are sitting next to you?" Ash huffed. His Dad was silly in the morning. "Dad! You said that I could go to camp this year! Come on, I wanna go, I can't wait!" He began tugging his Dad towards the door, but Grover was already sitting back down.

"Ash, I'll take you, just not at four in the morning! Wait until the sun comes up at least..." Ash crossed his arms and pouted as his dad lay down again. He didn't want to wait! He ran outside and climbed up on the big rock next to Mummy's tree, waiting for the sun. He lay down on top of it, thinking excitedly about camp, when he felt a poke on his shoulder. Willow had climbed up the rock and was sitting next to him, her little goat legs curled up under her. Willow was a Satyr legacy, and was already climbing like, well, a mountain goat.

"Why Ashy so early?" Willow asked, rubbing her eyes. Ash puffed up his chest proudly. "I'm gonna go to camp! Mummy says that they're gonna teach me to be a big hero like Dad!" Willow giggled and gave him a hug. "Ashy already a hero! 'Member? Bugs were trying to get to Mummy's tree before, and you shooed them away! They were scary bugs..." Ash smiled, and hugged her back. "Silly, that's not a real hero. I gotta scare big bugs away, like the mimro... mamroy... The big ant thingies Dad told us about!"

Willow gaped at him, thinking about the monsters from their Dad's stories. "You're gonna fight those things? But they sounded big and scary! How?" Jumping down from the rock, Ash looked back up at her. "Auntie Clarisse and Uncle Percy are gonna teach me swords! And Mommy said that if I practice a lot, I can control plants, and they're gonna help me fight! Come on, the sun's coming up! I gotta go!"

Willow jumped down nimbly, and ran back inside with Ash. "Dad! Daddy! Come on, we gotta go! The sun's up, just like you said. Can we go now?" Ash babbled, bouncing up and down on his father's chest. "Ooof! Ok, ok, but I need you to get off, having some trouble breathing..." Grover groaned. Ash jumped off and began pulling on his arm. I'm off now, can we go? Can we go?" "Yes, alright. I will walk you ten minutes away. Are you happy now?" Grover said jokingly. Ash jumped up and down, nodding wildly and then, without waiting for his Dad, began attempting to haul his giant bag behind him, all the while quietly chanting "finally finally finally!" under his breath.

Author's Note: the big ants in the story were a reference to monsters that Sarah and Marshall fight in Chasing Fireflies. I will be uploading chapters in batches of two or three, but since I am on camp next week I'll upload all of what I have roughly a week from now.


End file.
